we never change (i'd be lying)
by underthegreensward
Summary: Set whenerver it is that Emily leaves for California.


**Emily Fields**

hey, i'm heading to cali next week, wanna meet up? :)

Paige blinks at her phone screen, debating whether this is real or she's just still dreaming. Deciding that she's probably still asleep, she turns around in her bed and drops back into a deep sleep.

When she wakes up, the text is still there and definitely real and she spends half an hour just staring at it. The last time she really talked to Emily was after Emily had been abducted and then after that, a few messages here and there to check up on each other, but nothing much really. For a while, she tried to put as much distance as possible between Rosewood and her, and that included Emily. It didn't take long for her to realize that wouldn't work.

She looks back at her phone, heavy in her hand. Her eyes land on Emily's picture, and she'd be lying if her heart didn't make a tiny jump at the sight of that familiar smile. Slowly, she starts typing.

 **Paige  
** Sure, whatd you have in mind?

She sets her phone down and pours some milk into her bowl of cereal. When she's three spoons in, her phone vibrates with a text. Opening the message with her left hand, she smiles around a mouth-full of cereal.

 **Emily Fields**

know any good pizza places?

* * *

Emily is late, and Paige remembers times when she'd checked her phone frantically, her heart in her throat, her body rigid with nervous worry. But right now, she studies the menu and contemplates ordering now so they won't have to wait ages for their food, her only worry being that the pizza is not as good as she remembers it.

With a glance at her watch, she decides to order her usual and Emily's along with it. The waiter takes her order with a smile, and Paige smiles back and checks her watch again. She distracts herself with her phone while she waits, and when she looks back up a few minutes later, she sees the people on the sidewalk parting and Emily walking towards her.

She'd be lying if she said her breath didn't stop for a second and an all too familiar flutter went through her stomach at the sight of Emily, hair flowing over her shoulder and a small smile playing around her lips. She gets up from her seat to greet Emily with a soft "Hey." and then Emily pulls her into a short, warm hug. "Hi," Emily says right next to her ear and Paige closes her eyes because Emily still smells like she remembers."Sorry, I'm late."

"No worries. I hope you still like baby spinach and tomatoes on your pizza, because I already ordered." Emily smiles at her and she has to fight the urge to look at the ground. "That's perfect," Emily says, and there's a split second of silence before they lapse into easy conversation.

They're laughing when their pizza comes, and Emily pulls a face when she sees Paige's. "Really? I thought your taste might have improved," Emily says, shaking her head. Paige laughs, grabbing a slice and taking a large bite out of it.

"Never."

* * *

Hours later, they somehow find themselves at the beach, the sun setting and tainting everything in an orange glow. They sit on the ground, people coming and leaving around them. Paige buries her toes in the sand as she laughs at something Emily says and feels Emily's hair brush against her shoulder in a small breeze.

She thinks about how many times she imagined doing this, being here, with Emily. It got less and less over the last few months and she thinks she might have been okay if it never happened, but she'd be lying if she said it didn't feel pretty close to perfect right now.

She lets a little bit of sand run through her fingers, feeling it tumble down her legs while she watches more and more people leaving the beach. The waves are calm and low, and it's soothing something inside her.

They're still sitting there, talking, when the sun is almost gone, along with all the people. Part of her knows that they'll be leaving soon too, but she can't bring herself to break them out of this moment. Instead, she lets out a small sigh and rests her chin on her own knees.

"Hey, you wanna go for a swim?" Emily asks, bumping their shoulders together and Paige laughs. "Now? We don't have swimsuits or anything." Emily shrugs and climbs to her feet. "Well just go in our underwear, not like anyone's gonna see us. And I know you have towels in your car," she says, offering a hand to pull Paige up.

She lets herself be pulled up and tries to look anywhere but at Emily when she starts undressing right in front of her. She busies herself with the button on her pants, tugs her top over her head and lets it drop to the ground.

And then Emily stands in front of her, and she can't stop her eyes from traveling slowly down Emily's body. Everything about Emily is just as breathtaking as she remembers it, but there's also something new. A tattoo is poking out from the hem of Emily's panties, right next to her hipbone, and her brows rise. "You got a tattoo?" She tries to find Emily's eyes in the low light, and catches her staring. Heat rises up her neck and into her ears. Emily clears her throat. "Yeah. It was pretty stupid to be honest."

There's something in Emily's voice that tells her there's more, something that Emily doesn't want to talk about right now, so she just nods and looks at the tattoo once more. "Hey, Paige? That swim scholarship looks good on you."

She sees a flash of white teeth grinning at her, then Emily is off to the water and she once again fights off the urge to stare feet, a smile stretching across her face. She hurries after Emily.

* * *

Later, they sit in the sand again, as dry as the small towels Paige keeps in her car will allow, Emily wearing Paige's sweater and Paige wrapped in a blanket she thankfully found in her car as well. They don't say anything, just listen to the waves crash onto the beach for a while, their naked, cold knees knocking against each other every now and then.

"Have you thought about covering it up? The tattoo I mean?" she asks into the silence and hears Emily shaking her head. "I wouldn't know with what." Paige nods in understanding and they fall quiet again. She leans back on her hands and watches Emily stare at the waves, barely visible in the dark.

Something about the scene in front of her makes her throat feel tight in a familiar way. She licks her lips and sits back up. "What about like, a mermaid?" She hears her own smile saying it and when Emily turns to look at her with twinkling eyes, she matches it. It makes Emily's lips look so soft and welcoming and Emily hand covers hers between them. "Yeah, sure." Emily's words tickle over her face and then one of them leans in. Emily's lips are as soft as they looked and warmth spreads through her body, from her stomach into her fingertips and ears.

She'd be lying if she said this didn't feel like an awful lot like coming home.


End file.
